Hand drill friction fire with goldenrod and cedar

A

algonquin_hiker

Joined
Aug 1, 2011
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hey guys,

im new to the forum, but definitely not to survival skills and bush craft.

I just wanted to ask people's opinions on how I should go about making a friction fire with a goldenrod spindle and a cedar baseboard.
I've done it before and here's the proof. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJxpWlkvu8U
that was quite some time ago though.

should I pick healthy green goldenrod and let it dry over a week? should I pick up the dead goldenrod underneath the sprouted dead ones?

I THINK I dried it and used it.

any methods you think I should undertake?

I just want to start doing this again, but I need yer help!

thanks!
 
Welcome Algonquin,

I'm not very good at handrill personally (I tend to lapse into bowdrill most of the time). Your post and video are the first time I've seen or heard of goldenrod being used as a drill. Are you stuck on using goldenrod for a particular purpose? Teasil and mullein seem much more popular materials and can be found generally in the same area where you can find goldenrod. Most folks usually harvest the weed stocks in mid- late Dec where it has enough time to dry and cure by weathering. I never heard of anybody drying their weed stocks at home and attempting it. I'd like to learn more if you do this regularly and how well it works for you.

Ken
 
hey,

yeah. I live in ottawa.

what do you think I can get now?

and im pretty sure drying it works.

im going to stick a few in my lizards cage (the same lizard you saw in the video)

it'll dry them faster.
 
Hi and welcome,

I'd say try both methods. Dry some and try dead ones. Around here, there is standing dead goldenrod as well as new growth.

I pretty much suck at hand drill, but I prefer goldenrod or evening primrose (I think that's what it is) over mullein. To me mullein is too wavy and that translates to hot spots on the hands. If you can get thicker goldenrod, I'd say go for it.
 
okay dude,

I'll grab the THICKEST goldenrod I can thats straight.

as well, I'll try again with the dead ones.

one thing....I have always used cedar for a baseboard. any other ideas of what I can use? like around ottawa. anything. this is just normal tiaga forest.
 
algonquin_hiker said:
one thing....I have always used cedar for a baseboard. any other ideas of what I can use? like around ottawa. anything. this is just normal tiaga forest.
Click to expand...

Around Ottawa you have a tonne of balsam fir (check out Gatineau area). Balsam fir makes a superior hearth to cedar in my experience with bowdrill. It works as good as basswood which is considered about as easy as it gets. You can also find basswood, but make sure its not punky. Thats the only thing I don't like about basswood is that it seems to be a bit touchy between getting it dry enough and not too punky where it starts to flake. The other really easy hearth wood is weeping willow.
 
Success!!!

I found a year old piece of goldenrod in my basement.

I kept it and dried it. which means its still greenish brown.

I made 3 embers and put one into tinder and got a flame tonight.

I used a thinner cedar baseboard. and actually....the spindle is VERY thin, plus I've heard that you have to work harder with a thicker spindle.

isnt that why a bow drill is needed for those thick spindles lol...?
 
Congratulations!

How hard would it be to get a coal on the fly from recently found material? I tried today. Big fail, but I'm still trying.
 
oh im sure I could do it,

but I have a bigger problem.

Making the ember? NO PROBLEM. I can make it every time with goldenrod and cedar, but only like 12% of the time with the ember ignite into flame in the bundle.... no, the ember is big enough for sure. sometimes I make it enormous, but the reason it doesnt ignite is because when I put it into the bundle the ember just burns through it and out the other side..... this almost always happens when I the bundle is left on the ground sometimes while I hold it too. help!

what do i do!!!??? hold it up and blow?

squeeze the bundle so the ember can burn slower

what!>?!?!?!?
 
Try a coal extender? Something like punkwood, tinder fungus or milkweed ovum to make the ember last longer. Or look at your tinder bundle. Is it fine enough? Moist? Are you getting enough air?
 
succcess!~!!!! I did it easily this time.

one thing I did differently was grabbed a bunch of saw dust LOL and used it to make the coal bigger
 
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